The Fredösphere

Virginia Postrel found this link which I can only describe as the designer's guide to The Incredibles.  If you are interested in architecture and design you should read it before seeing the movie (unless you already know everything about the subject, but even then, read it anyway).  Included is a link to a bizarre Guardian column giving the neo-Marxist take on superheroes.  (Hey, it's the Guardian; what did I expect?)

I described to my friend Victor the introduction to the second movement of Michael Daugherty's Metropolis Symphony (it would have been called the Superman Symphony if trademark law had not interfered).  A siren rises in pitch and volume until it climaxes with the entrance of the low brass, then falls away, leaving the strings (or something that sounds like strings) keening away on high wavering notes.  (Listen to the intro to the second movement here.)  Victor immediately said:  "War Pigs.  Black Sabbath."  I do not know if Mr. Daugherty misspent his youth with Black Sabbath (I do not think that would have been possible) but in any case I am glad to report the similarity really ain't there.